Special Chemistries
LMS Issue 3 | 2014
43
Arsenic Poisoning Drinking Water
T
he cultural history of arsenic is
fascinating. Currently, however,
arsenic is mainly considered a threat
to the health of millions of people as
it contaminates the drinking water in
many regions.
People have found uses for the
various properties of arsenic and its
compounds. Red and yellow arsenic
sulf ides were used in antiquit y as
makeup.
Artists used arsenic compounds as
pigments and the first effective drug to
be used against syphilis was the arsenic
compound arsphenamine.
The best-known use of the element,
however, is as a poison in drinking
water.
Voltammetric determination with
the scTRACE Gold is an alternative
method for the determination of toxic
arsenic in water that is much easier to
use and much less expensive.
This new, screen printed sensor can
be used without any preparation, and
measuring results are available after
only 10 minutes and the detection limit
for arsenic is well below the 10 µg/L
stipulated by the latest legislation in
the US and the EU.
The scTRACE Gold combines all
three of the electrodes needed for the
measurement in one sensor. Screen
printing makes it very affordable and it
does not need any maintenance.
Another benef it of voltammetric
measurements with the scTR ACE
Gold is the ability to discriminate
between different oxidation states of
arsenic, notably the highly toxic As(III)
and the less toxic As(V).
The scTRACE Gold can be used
with any Metrohm voltammetry measuring stand. ⚛
Metrohm SA
Contact: Ravi Issari
Tel: 011-656-2686
Email: [email protected]
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Email: [email protected]